Injustice

10.24.09

Lashing for Saudi Female Journalist

Saudi journalist Rozanna al-Yami was sentenced to 60 lashes by a Saudi court on Saturday for working on a television show that featured a Saudi man speaking about his sex life and showing sex toys on air. The 22-year-old female journalist supposedly helped organize the program and advertise it online, and although she claims the judge dropped the charges, al-Yami says she was given the sentence, believed to be the first punishment of its kind for a Saudi woman journalist, “as a deterrence.” The main male guest on the show was sentenced to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes this month. The government also shut down the two offices belonging to the Lebanese LBC satellite channel that aired the show in July and three other male guests were sentenced to two years in jail and 300 lashes each.